SOFTLY, SOFTLY, CATCHEE MONKEY
A novel by A. Ashun
“…That my tale should not be entirely futile, I shall endeavour to
make it point a moral, and to save the reader the trouble of wading through its
tedious pages. I will here at once say that the moral may be summed up thus.
A smile and a
stick will carry you through any difficulty in the world, more especially if
you act upon the old West Coast motto, "Softly, softly, catchee
monkey."
This axiom would not have been offered did it not hold good equally
in the lesser as in the larger developments of the campaign. The expedition
itself, well-disposed, yet determined, was at once a smile and a stick. By
quietly taking possession of Ashanti, it has practically acquired the vast Hinterland
beyond it has softly caught the monkey. And the principle is being carried out
in all quarters of the world. In Siam, in Venezuela, and up the Nile, England
goes softly, softly, catching her monkey.
And what is a sound principle for an empire is a safe one for an
individual….”
Major R.S.S. Baden-Powell, 13th Hussars, Commanding The
Native Levy
From: The Downfall of Prempeh: A
diary of life with the native levy in Ashanti 1895 - 1896
~ ~ ~
SYNOPSIS
It is the second half of the late 19th century and England
is expanding it’s empire even further into the Gold Coast, overtaking the
Dutch, Danes, Portuguese and Germans in the building of Forts, the taking over
of Forts and the trading of goods with the local peoples. Critical to the
spread of the British Kingdom is the subjugation of the Ashanti people who
occupy the dense forest areas of central Ghana and as such, several wars define
this period. As a warrior people, the Ashanti believe they are superior, not
just to other tribes but also to the invading British who in turn find the
Ashanti pride ridiculous and the people exhibiting it, utterly beneath them.
From
1850 – 1905, several attempts to annex the Ashanti come to naught as the
British watch helplessly while the Ashanti Kingdom continues to expand, forming
alliances – the most dangerous one with Muslim invaders from the North. The
British have to act fast since the Germans have consolidated control of what
will one day become Togo and the French are doing the same to The Ivory Coast.
Sandwiched between these two nations is the British colony of The Gold Coast,
strategic for trade in Gold, Spices, Silver, Diamonds, Bauxite and also slaves,
a commodity everyone would like to believe is no longer being traded.
Each time
the British plan an assault, the Ashanti meet them head on with a loss of life
on each side but a slight bruising of ego on the British side. On one fateful
day, the British Governor decides he’s had enough of the impertinence of the
Ashanti and demands the surrender of the symbol of their tribal identity – the
Golden Stool. The Ashanti refuse, giving the British among other things, a
reason for war. The Chief of the Ashanti, unwilling to see his people decimated
eventually surrenders willingly to the governor of the Gold Coast and is exiled
along with other minor chiefs and servants to the Seychelles Islands off the
South East coast of Africa. Despite this success, the British sense that an
uprising is fomenting because the Golden Stool is still nowhere in their
possession, meaning the Ashanti still believe themselves to be invincible.
They
are right and in 1896, led by Yaa Asantewa, a 60-year old Queen Mother from the
town of Ejisu, the Ashanti’s try once more to force the British out by laying
siege to their fort. For six months, they cut off food and supplies to the
Kumasi Fort, and rumours abound that the British inhabitants of the Kumasi Fort
have been reduced to eating rats and mice as they slowly starve to death. Yaa
Asantewa rallies her forces to bombard the Fort with taunts, yelling the
Ashanti war cry at dawn and at dusk and putting fear in the British Governor
Sir Hodgson who refuses to budge and continues to claim the Gold Coast for his
Queen, Victoria. Unbeknownst to Yaa Asantewa, Governor Hodgson has a secret
weapon; a child of the Ejisu court who was mistakenly trapped in the Fort at
the start of the siege. Nyamekye is supposed to be in Bantama, a stronghold of
the Ashanti where all the royal children have been sent for their own
protection. Her presence in the Fort at this most crucial time causes initial
discomfort for the Governor. He is suspicious and yet elated at the weapon he
now has and begins to plan how he will use her. On hearing that Nyamekye is
trapped in the Fort, Yaa Asantewa is unmoved and continues to lay siege, calling
into question her motives, her steel and her motherhood.
Will Nyamekye survive?
What will it take to free her? What role will she play during the six-month
siege? Softly Softly Catchee Monkey
is an intense saga from a period in history often told from the victor’s point
of view. England moved slowly but decidedly in the Gold Coast, always planning
to catch its ‘monkey’ with tactics that were often one step ahead of the
colonized tribes. However, the true victors in war are those who are able to build
and sustain friendships in this most trying of circumstances. In this story,
Nyamekye will make a friend of the enemy and this friendship will represent a
unity that would rival that of the Ashanti’s and their Golden Stool.
As the
African proverb tells it “If there is cause to hate someone, the cause to love
has just begun”
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